It's All Greek to Me

After being blessed with a calm crossing of the Gulf of Mexico to the west coast of Florida, we decided to leave "Little Lara" in Tarpon Springs while we flew to Utah to visit our children and grandchildren for Thanksgiving.  It was quite a shock going from 85 degree sunny weather to snow and temperatures in the teens!  We had to borrow coats, gloves and an electric blanket from our kids! Nevertheless, we had a wonderful visit with our family and were grateful to be able to be there when our grandson was baptized. While there, we celebrated Thanksgiving, six family birthdays and enjoyed an early Christmas!  It was hard to say goodbye to our loved ones, but we reminded ourselves that we would see them again in three months.

After returning to Florida, and warmer weather, we spent time exploring Tarpon Springs. This area has a very strong Greek influence due to a great many sponge divers who immigrated to the area in the late 1800's.  This area now has the largest fleet of sponge diving boats in the world, and as you can imagine, boasts a thriving tourist industry.  We loved walking around town and seeing all the Greek stores, restaurants, bakeries and the sponge factories.  While shopping or eating great Greek food we would be surprised to hear Greek spoken here, even by the children.  And while here we discovered our new favorite dessert -- baklava topped chocolate cheesecake!

Greek Sponge Store 

Special thanks goes to Herb and Rita who gave us rides to the airport, church, the Ward Christmas party and a Stake Christmas concert.  They certainly made us feel at home. We also appreciate the guys at Anclote Harbor Marina who gave us rides to West Marine, the grocery store and even loaned us a truck!

Our other mode of transportation while in Tarpon Springs was the "Jolly Trolley", which we rode to explore the cities of Dunedin and Clearwater.  We happened to be in Dunedin for an arts and craft fair and also a jazz concert.  A great deal of fun and many interesting people.

After leaving Tarpon Springs we headed south, down the Intracoastal Waterway and anchored near Clearwater beach for a quiet night, with the aquarium on one side and the board walk a short distance away, on the other side of the island.  Over the next few days we were lucky in our experiences with the bridge tenders -- we didn't have to wait for the bridges to open, even though they are on a tight, restricted opening schedule.  We just happened to be at each bridge at the right time.

Tampa Bay and the "Sunshine Skyway Bridge"

Desoto Park Ranger

Desoto Park Ranger

After crossing Tampa Bay, we headed up the Manatee River to anchor near DeSoto National Memorial Park.  This was a great place because it was a calm, beautiful anchorage, with a small beach where we could leave the dinghy and explore the park.  As we walked through the nature trails we were surprised to come upon Conquistadors and Indians lurking in the dense woods!  The park's visitor center showed an interesting film about the discovery of this area by Hernando De Soto, and had a great display of artifacts from that time period, as well as a replica fort staffed with park rangers in period clothing. They did an archery and black powder musket demonstration as well as showed us other weaponry and armor.

Indians Running for their Lives

Due to a cold front weather forecast with predicted 20 – 25 mph winds, we moved  "Little Lara" to a different anchorage further up the river off McKay Point. There we had better protection from the wind and waves. 

                   

                                   Those Pesky Pelicans!

What we didn't anticipate was to be dive bombed by a pesky pelican searching for food!  He kept diving for fish so close to "Little Lara" that he splashed the boat, creating waves that rocked us more than the wind!


Twin Dolphin Marina in Bradenton was our next stop on the Manatee River, which turned out to be one of the nicest marinas we have stayed at yet -- also one of the most expensive.  It has nice facilities: floating docks, clean showers, swimming pool, nearby restaurants and even bikes we were able to check out to make a quick run to the grocery store.  While in Bradenton we were able to visit Birdie's (a close, special friend from Redding) sister, Aletha.  It was great spending time with Aletha. We appreciated getting to know her and were grateful for the ride to church and a fantastic meal afterwards.  We meet the best people!  Until next time...fair winds and gentle seas. 

Peggy, Aletha and "Little Lara"